Effects of obesity in childhood - Research Paper Example

Obesity in Children Obesity was considered an issue in the past but now it has become a problem to be contended with as one out of every seven children in the United States is overweight (Schwimmer, Burwinkle and Varni 2003). Not only this, these overweight children have a high tendency to grow up and continue to gain weight rather than lose it. Obesity occurs when a person has too much fat on their body than is healthy or even acceptable (Walter Burniat, 2002, 17). In most developed countries today there has been a sharp in crease in obesity due to the introduction of fast food and a lack of exercise. Some streets in most metropolitan cities have numerous fast food restaurants and people would rather take spend most of their time sitting in front of the television and computer rather then play outdoors or walk even. These trends has been inherited by the future generation who now spends countless hours playing video games and watching movies and add unhealthy food into the mix and the lifestyle goes haywire. However, unhealthy eating is not the only reason many children are obese. There may be an involvement of genetics which can determine weight. Some children may have parents who are both obese and thus the chances of the child being obese increases with these genes. It is also estimated that if a child is overweight in the first four years of their life then the trend will likely continue for the rest of their life. Some other factors may include a hormonal problem which can lead to weight gain and it is not too difficult to find out whether a child’s weight is being affected by their genes, or by their way of living (David Hirsch, 2010). Some kids who also gain weight quickly regardless of genetics would be those whose bodies are less likely to detect the message that the stomach is now full and eating should be discontinued. Eating behavior can affect the body too and this can be a result of emotional factors such as stress or depression when a child begins to feel that food becomes a source of comfort. Though at times children may eat unnecessarily such as when going to watch a movie or when they are bored and so forth. Eating becomes a habit, hobby or pastime which it should not be. Here is also the point where the family can be a very poor influence on a child as parents discontinue a bad living style with a complete disregard for the well-being of their child (BBC Health, 2010). Looking at a singular cause of childhood obesity one can focus more directly on the environmental factors which would include the family influence on the child and their way of living and their surroundings. This would be the most common cause of childhood factor with several studies showing that modern way of living is having a detrimental effect on children. There has been a debate as to whether school lunch in the United States has been a cause of obesity itself. Obesity can have various and lifelong effects on a child. The first and foremost would be the danger of developing type 2 diabetes. This form of diabetes or even the disease itself was thought to be more common in adults but now it has become alarmingly common in obese children (Fox News, 2010). This form of diabetes requires a constant care to be given to the child and medicine to be taken to control the level of sugar in their body. It can also be controlled by taking a proper diet and yet that is the main cause to the disease at such a young age and not easily manageable by someone on their own. Obese children are known to have twice as much a chance of developing diabetes then those kids who have a normal weight. A study was conducted and published in February’s issue of the Diabetic Care which showed that of the 229000 children who were part of the study about 3.2 of every thousand children were shown to have diabetes. Another major problem that has arisen from this epidemic of a constant increase in obese children are the increase in heart diseases. Eating food that is soaked in oil and rich in fat leads to the fat accumulating in the arteries of the child. Obese children can thus develop diseases such as high cholesterol and even high blood pressure. These again can be managed by a healthy diet but a prolonged wait in trying to control such problems already taking a toll on the body can make a child more prone for heart complications as they grow older. There have been studies which have showed that children as young as three have showed signs of inflammatory response that can later be linked later on to heart disease. The study was aimed to show that obese children start to show signs of health related problem at a much younger age then was previously believed by some. The study showed further that about thirty percent of these three year olds were showing signs of inflammation. This study shows that children are at a serious risk now with fourteen percent of the children in the United States at the age of two to five years are considered by health experts to be overweight or obese. There have been studies that have showed that obesity can be caused by psychological factors and that It can cause them as well. Children who are obese have been found to be teased more in school due to their weight and have been more inclined to be bullied as well as teased for their problem causing them to become loners and not spend the childhood that is more common in kids (Pařízková and Hills, 2003, 230). A study was conducted in North Caroline of the United States where about a sample size of 1000 white children was chosen from the age of nine to sixteen and studied over a time span of eight years, in which it was found that boys more than girls showed signs of depression that could be linked as a reaction of their weight. According to a doctor at the Duke University Medical Center the cause of this can be due to social factors. She also stated that if a child is overweight for a time of six months it won’t really have any effect but a dragged out illness can become an attraction for depression and stress. However, these children are not only burdened with depression but as the Journal of American Medical Association published in a study conducted; those children who were considered obese were 5.5 times more likely to live a life that would be considered impaired as compared to those kids who fall within the normal weight category. This can lead a child to become sad and may cause depression which can also lead to a chronic habit of eating as a result. The study surprisingly found that these kids who are obese live a standard of life that can be more commonly found to be lived by children who are undergoing cancer treatment such as chemotherapy. This trend was not associated to any particular walk of life but extended to almost every aspect which surprised even those who were conducting the survey themselves (Willow Lawson, 2003). The depression and constant teasing at school can make a child neglect school work and even miss out on school to avoid the criticism that they receive which ultimately shows later on as they are not able to keep at par academically with their school mates either. It was found that these children skip school and miss out on studies an average of four days out of a month which was high as compared to the less than one day that is an average for kids. These three effects of obesity in childhood can be a great cause for many but these are not the only factors. The simple law of physics applied, obese children are not able to actively participate in those things that they should be involved in as children. Movement with an increased amount of body weight as compared to the level that the child should be at leads to an increase in the chances of having fractures as the bones have to carry more weight than they are able to at the time. This loss of mobility can add to the problem and couple that with joint problems that are developed later and a child is not able to exercise or even participate in regular activities. Asthma can occur as breathing itself becomes a heavy task and takes a toll on the body. Not only this, there can be severe back pains brought on by the extra weight that is strapped on to the child’s body to allowing bending and making movement painful (Tessmer, Beecher and Hagen, 2006, 39). Childhood obesity has become a very serious problem in many developed countries and as technological advances are made and man is not required to do all that he once had to, humans have become lazy. It is catching up and even now obesity is slowly becoming common in less developed nations. The problems that it brings are far ranging and can lead to lesser life span and even early death due to sleep apnea and so we need to deal with this now while we still can (Kopelman, Caterson, and Dietz, 2010, 230). Parents should encourage their kids to be more active and try to change their way of living to help improve their child’s. Work Cited "BBC - Health: Obesity." BBC - Homepage. Aug. 2008. Web. 19 June 2010. . Burniat, Walter. Child and Adolescent Obesity: Causes and Consequences, Prevention and Management. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2002. Print. P. 17. Hirsch, David. "Obesity in Children." WebMD Childrens Health Center - Kids Health and Safety Information for a Healthy Child. 25 Feb. 2010. Web. 19 June 2010. . Kopelman, Peter G., Ian D. Caterson, and William H. Dietz. Clinical Obesity in Adults and Children. 3rd ed. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. Print. Lawson, Willow. "The Obesity-Depression Link | Psychology Today." Psychology Today: Health, Help, Happiness Find a Therapist. 1 May 2003. Web. 19 June 2010. . "Obese Children as Young as 3 Showing Signs of Heart Disease - Childrens Health - FOXNews.com." Breaking News | Latest News | Current News - FOXNews.com. 1 Mar. 2010. Web. 19 June 2010. . Pařízková, Jana, and Andrew P. Hills. Childhood Obesity: Prevention and Treatment. Boca Raton, Fla.: CRC, 2005. Print. Schwimmer, Jeffrey B., Tasha M. Burwinkle, and James W. Varni. "Health-Related Quality of Life of Severely Obese Children and Adolescents." The Journal of American Medical Association289.14 (2003): 1813-819. Print. Tessmer, Kimberly A., Meghan Beecher, and Michelle Hagen. Conquering Childhood Obesity for Dummies. Indianapolis, Ind.: Wiley, 2006. 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